Countdown part 5: RK Pivovarna Laško Celje

After missing out on a chance to play in the VELUX EHF Champions League in the 2011/12 season, the 2004 EHF Champions League winner RK Pivovarna Laško is back on track. The Slovenian runners-up showed an improvement in the previous season by reaching the semi-final of the EHF Cup Winners Cup.

However, one experienced key player has left the Slovenian side: Petar Metličić, who has made his way to Montpellier. Despite the departure of Metličić, Celje have signed some strong Slovenian and Hungarian reinforcements in Sebastian Skube, arriving from last season’s VELUX EHF Champions League quarter-finalist Cimos Koper, and Máté Lékai who made his way from Szeged.

The main goal of the club in Slovenian championship is to give it their all until last round of competition and they hope to finish in the highest possible position. The very young team, with a lower mean average age than last season are learning from game to game and from season to season. Their domestic rivals Gorenje and Koper have more experience in their squads, but Celje hope they can qualify again for the VELUX EHF Champions League.

In this season in the top competition their objective is to fill the Zlatorog hall and show Europe that their young team is capable to play against teams such as THW Kiel, Atletico Madrid, Veszprem and Sävehof. But many of their young players will have to learn fast.

“Our main goal is to compete with teams such as Kiel, Aletico Madrid and Veszprem in Zlatorog and show everybody that our young team is able to compete in the Champions League. We hope to surprise some of the big teams in a full Zlatorog hall. Playing in front of 5000 supporters is a dream of every player. For a lot of guys in my team this will be their first experience. We will grab every opportunity with both hands,” club manager Roman Pungartnik promised.

“Our group is the most attractive in the whole of the whole Champions League. We will play against THW Kiel (last year’s winner), Atletico Madrid (last year’s finalist), Veszprem who have a huge number of new experienced players and Sävehof. Those big names will hopefully fill our hall in Zlatorog. We will play against the best teams in the world. I could not have expected more from the draw.”

Celje’s top scorer last season Luka Žvižej stated: “Our goal in the Champions League is to present ourselves in the best possible way. It will be a hard task for a lot of our players, because this will be their first major experience. Our opponents are top teams, hopefully our arena in Zlatorog will be full and we can fight until the last minute to win our games. There is no shame in losing games against Kiel, Atletico Madrid or Veszprem, but we have to show passion and heart on the court in Zlatorog. We will leave our hearts on the court.”

Three questions to coach Vladan Matić:
ehfCL.com: What are your expectations for the upcoming season in VELUX EHF Champions League?
Vladan Matić : We can just promise to fight every match, to leave our hearts on court. Our main goal is that teams and supporters will remember Celje as team that is on the way up in world handball and that we have a bright future ahead of us. We have some potential stars in our team and we have to allow them play on highest level.

ehfCL.com: What does the participation in the VELUX EHF Champions League mean to you and your club?
Vladan Matić: Celje is back in the Champions League, this is the most important thing. Our club and the city of Celje deserves this. Our team is very young, we can say that we are one of the youngest teams in Champions League, so this will be a year for learning and for gathering experience. We will be playing against three teams that are candidates to reach the FINAL4, so it will be very tough. But we won’t give up, we will fight and look for our chance to reach the Last 16.

ehfCL.com: What teams are your personal favourites to reach the VELUX EHF FINAL4 and why?
Vladan Matić: Three candidates (Kiel, Atletico Madrid, Veszprem) are our opponents in the Group Phase. They have got really strong squads. You can also include Montpellier, Flensburg, Kielce and Barcelona. But still the strongest team are THW Kiel, because their squad is just amazing. They have got at least two worldwide superstars in each position.

RK Celje Pivovarna Laško (SLO)
Qualification for the 2012/2013 VELUX EHF Champions League season: Slovenian runners-up
Coach:  Vladan Matić, since 2011
Newcomers: Sebastian Skube (RK Cimos Koper), Máté Lékai (Pick Szeged), Blaž Janc (promoted from Celje B team)
Left the club: Petar Metličić (MAHB Montpellier), Nejc Poklar (RK Cimos Koper)

VELUX EHF Champions League records:
Participations (including 2012/2013 season): 18
Winner (1):  2003/2004
Semi Final (6): 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2004/05
Quarterfinal (2): 2001/02, 2005/06
Last 16 (2): 1995/96, 2006/07
Main Round (2): 2007/08, 2008/09
Group Phase (3): 1993/1994, 1994/95, 2010/11
Qualification (1): 2009/10

Other EC records:
Cup Winners' Cup:
Semi finalist 2002/2002, 2011/12

Slovenian champion: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010
Slovenian Cup winner: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012

Further information

Find more information on Celje HERE.

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